thinkthingsthrutotheirlogicalconclusion.org

The Left-leaning website, thinkprogress.org is not on my list of "must reads". I was recently led to the site, however, while looking for information on Pope Francis' upcoming encyclical on climate change. "Progressive" publications and websites are generally not complimentary toward the Catholic Church; the Church's view on climate change being the one notable exception.

Most of what I've come across lately, concerning the Pope and other Catholic Bishops, with regard to climate change has been encouraging. I'll go further into that subject in a later post, but for now, I want to write about thinkprogress.org's general assessment of the Catholic Church.

On the website's menu bar, we find nine sections - not counting the "Front" or Home page. These sections include, Climate, Economy, Health, Justice, LGBT (of course) World, Culture, Sports, and Election. In the same issue where I came across the article, Pope Francis Expected To Instruct One Billion Catholics To Act On Climate Change, I found no less than five additional articles on the Catholic Church. In the nine sections listed above, I found an article in all but three.

Any positive feelings toward the Church that might have been found in the piece on climate change was wiped away in the anti-Knights of Columbus article, How One Religious Organization Bankrolls America’s Social Conservative Movement. That the KoC would support the Church's teachings on abortion and same sex "marriage" is beyond the "brights" who write for thinkprogress.org. The site isn't called thinkthingsthrutotheirlogicalconclusion.org, after all.

In the article, New Catholic Survey Asks About People With ‘Homosexual Tendencies’ writer Jack Jenkins has to put in the old, “who am I judge?” comment. Progressives are so predictable.

In the Economy section, they speak highly of the Pope again by pointing out that Francis celebrated his birthday by giving sleeping bags to homeless people. They also have to mention, of course, that there was some "internal opposition in the Vatican" to his helping the homeless.

Finally, in Health writer Sam P.K. Collins' article, Low-Gluten Diet Alternatives Have Reached A New Frontier: The Catholic Church, there is absolutely no understanding of - or sympathy for - the Church's teachings on the Blessed Sacrament.

In an earlier post, I wrote of "my desire to get as many POV's as I could when trying to get the ends and outs of a variety of stories". Be that as it may, a link to thinkprogress.org will not be added to my News Sources column on the right.

Tropical Storm Seniang.

For those looking for news on Tropical Storm Jangmi (AKA Seniang), check my other blog, Dumaguetewebsite.

Adios, Washington Post and Sydney Morning Herald.

In what might be loosely considered an update from an earlier post, I want to comment on the "News Sources" links listed in the far right column.

Since placing the links there, I've had to make a few changes to the list. Sadly, I've had to remove the links to two newspapers, The Washington Post and Sydney Morning Herald.

I'm afraid that both papers have begun limiting the number of free articles that can be read on their websites each month. I want to get news from a wide variety of sources, but I haven't found anything on either website that would warrant my paying for the "privilege" of getting their version of the news. There are just too many free news sites on the Internet. I understand that we all need money, but the traditional newspaper is dead and companies like The Washington Post and Sydney Morning Herald need to accept that.

eBooks.

There are only a few days left in this year. It's the time,commonly set aside for looking back on what we've accomplished......or failed to accomplish, as the case may be.

It's become a tradition, of sorts, for me to publish a post around New Year's Day, giving a list of the books I've read in the year just ending. I've done this for 2011, 2012 and 2013. As there are still a couple of more days in 2014, I should be able to finish the book I'm currently reading before the New Year's deadline. The total number read in 2014 is more than 2012 and 2013 combined. Retirement has it's benefits - no pun intended.

Another landmark for 2014 is that, for the first time, all the books read this year were eBooks; there's not a single printed book on the list.

As mentioned in a post from August, I somehow managed to damage my Kindle on the trip here from the U.S.. Fortunately, I had purchased a Kindle for my son before moving to Philippines. I was able to keep up with my reading via his Kindle, but I don't really want to "hog" his Kindle; I want him to become a lover of books too. In order to read eBooks while he's on the Kindle, I downloaded the Kindle app to my android. This works out OK, except for one thing. While I can download eBooks which I've purchased from Amazon on either device, I haven't found a way to read eBooks from Project Gutenberg on the android. It may be possible to do so, though I don't know how to do it.

I have managed to get around that problem another way. I've downloaded the FBReader app onto the android and now eBooks from Project Gutenberg can be uploaded to their website and stored onto my Google Drive.Now,it's safe to say that I can read whatever I like, whenever I like. (another advantage of using either the Kindle or FBReader app on the android is the light coming from the phone makes for easier reading than on the regular Kindle).

I don't care for either e-reader when used on a PC. I've gotten over not having the feel of turning paper pages, but I don't believe I could ever get over not being able to hold the device in my hands.

Lawmaker Stands By Bill Requiring Man’s Consent for Abortion

In the far-right corner of this blog, one will find a series of links listed under News Sources. Most of the links featured are not to American news websites.

The reason behind my choices of sources has to do with my desire to get as many POV's as I could when trying to get the ends and outs of a variety of stories. Obviously, a story as reported on FoxNews or CNN might have a different slant when viewed on Aljazeera or Sputnik US. In some cases, stories found on BBC or on an Australian news outlet might not even appear on an American website.

One particular case in point involves the reporting of Missouri lawmaker Rick Brattin's introduction of Missouri State House Bill 131 which would require that "no abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written,notarized consent to the abortion,except in cases in which the woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or induced was the victim of rape or incest and the pregnancy resulted from the rape or incest".

The American press [ kfor.com and kansascity.com for example] choose to paint Brattin's bill as an attempt to restrict women's Rights.

" 'It’s simply demeaning and degrading to women. We, and most of the voters in Missouri, believe that women can make their own decisions both about their lives generally and about their healthcare specifically,' said Laura McQuad, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri."

The same story, as presented by the Russian newsite,us.sputniknews adds something left out in the U.S. reporting.

"When Missouri lawmaker Rick Brattin found out he was required to have his wife’s consent for his own vasectomy, he thought about how 'twisted' it is that the same rule does not apply to women seeking an abortion."

us.sputniknews quotes Brattin, by way of Mother Jones,

"When a man goes in for that procedure—at least in the state of Missouri—you have to have a consent form from your spouse in order to have that procedure done," he told Mother Jones. "Here I was getting a normal procedure that has nothing to do with another human being's life, and I needed to get a signed form…But on ending a life, you don't. I think that's pretty twisted."

As someone who agrees with the Catholic Church's condemnation of vasectomies, I can understand the reasoning behind a law requiring a wife's consent before a man can have a vasectomy. I do, however, see Brattin's point. I've always disagreed with the idea that a man doesn't have a say in the abortion of his own child.

I'm sure that the biased American media will succeed in painting Rick Brattin as a far-Right wing, anti-choice kook. Knowing America as well as I do, I know that abortion on demand will continue to be the law of the land. It would be nice, however, if while defending abortion, the media could, at least present an accurate description of both sides of the argument.

I won't hold my breathe.